Self-opening and closing mouthpiece for collapsible tubes



SELF OPENING AND CLOSING MOUTHPIECE FOR COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed Feb. 28,1931 Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES SELF-OPENING AND CLOSINGMOUTHPIECE FOR GOLLAPSIBLE TUBES Daniel D. Devlin and Reinhart W.Pittman, New York, N. Y.

Application February 28, 1931. Serial No. 518,974

9 Claims.

This invention relates to means for conveniently and thoroughlyextruding the contents from collapsible tubes through a self-opening andclosing mouthpiece by applying pressure to the exterior of the tube inthe usual manner, or by providing a binder such as is now employed toseal the tube end, but to provide this binder with an extension to forma finger piece by means of which the tube can be rolled up on the binderto force the contents forward to the mouthpiece, or additional means maybe used with the present binder to serve as a finger grip to connectwith the binder to rotate the same to roll the tube thereon.

It is one object of the invention to provide a an extension to provide afinger grip and be sup plied with the tube.

A further object is to arrange these members in such a manner that onehand will suflice to discharge the contents from the tube whereby theother hand is free to hold an article to which contents may be applied.

In the use of collapsible tubes the general practice is to unscrew thecap and lay it aside, then pick up the tooth brush or other article towhich the application from the tube is to be made by squeezing the tube,thus requiring the use of both hands. With the self-opening mouthpiece,however, this operation is much simplified, since the tube has only tobe squeezed in the usual manner, or by providing a convenient means toprogressively force the contents forward and drain the tubesystematically and thoroughly by this forward action forcing the desiredquantity from the self-opening mouthpiece onto the article, and on therelease of the pressure the mouthpiece will automatically close.- I,

Other objects will appear and be more fully pointed out and described inthe drawing form:

ing a part of this specification, in which like char acters designatecorresponding parts in the several figures of which: L Figure 1 is aperspective view of a collapsible tube provided with this improvedself-opening and simple construction of the mouthpiece that can closingmouthpiece and the usual binder to seal the other end of the tube.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a tube with this improved mouthpiece to moreclearly show the construction and further shows a binder provided withan ex- 6Q tension by means of which the tube may be rolled up on thebinder to force the contents forward in the tube.

Figs. 3 to 7, inclusive, show in detail the selfopening and closingmouthpiece.

Fig. 8 is a view of the binder for sealing the tube provided with anextension forming a wing grip portion by means of which the tube may berolled up.

Fig. 9 is a similar view but showing the binder with the tube partlyrolled up on the binder.

Fig. 10 is a view of another form of the means for pressing the contentsof the tube to extrude same from the mouthpiece.

Fig. 11 is a detail of another form of the rolling up means.

Fig. 12 is a modification showing a simple form of the rolling up means.

As shown, the usual tube 2 provided with the threaded end 3 adapted toreceive the closure cap that is generally supplied with the tube, isutilized to receive the threaded bore 4 of a self-opening and closingmouthpiece 5 that serves as a closure cap at all times except whendesired to extrude some of the contents from the tube by pressing orsqueezing the tube without removing this closure from the tube.

We do not wish to limit our invention to any particular form ofattachment of the mouthpiece to the tube since it may be integral withthis tube, or attached in any other manner.

The principal feature of our invention is to provide a self opening andclosing mouthpiece controlled by the application of pressure which maybe obtained in any desirable manner, such as directly squeezing the tubeas is usually done, or by means, as will be shown, by rolling up thetube by providing a wing grip to the binder indicated at 6 thatpermanently seals the end '7 of the tube, whereby the. binder may berotated by this grip and the binder part will act as a core to roll upthe tube thereon. By providing this wing grip in connection with theself-opening and closing mouthpiece we are enabled to extrude anydesired quantity from the tube by the use of one hand only leaving theother hand free to hold an article to which it is desired to apply thecontents from the tube. Usually tubes, when subjected to directsqueezing, are not entirely drained due to careless handling. By rollingup, the tube as just described moves the contents progressively forwardin the tube as it is used and when the tube becomes shorter by thisaction the rolling up becomes more eifective and convenient formanipulation by the one hand as will be readily understood. In the useof the screw cap generally supplied with such tubes, it is the generalpractice to remove and replace the cap before and after use. This planis hardly ever carried out, the cap being mislaid or forgotten and thetube is left in an unsanitary condition and the material dried at thedischarge opening. Our invention obviates these conditions by supplyinga substitute for the cap that delivers its contents through a self-closing spring pressure plate that fits snugly between side walls ofthe mouthpiece but free enough between the walls to respond to pressurefrom within the tube to open the spring plate, and self-closing, whenthe pressure ceases.

We prefer to construct this mouthpiece by forming the body 10 .ofmouldable material and shaped to form an extended runway 11 preferablyrectangular and open at the top forward end, the greater part of itsextended length and this lpen top terminating a short distance from thefront of the head 12 at which place a top wall 13 provides a shelf-likearrangement, having recesses 14-14 at each side formed in the side walls15 which, at this location, extend upward over the shelf. The top oftheshelf has a depression 16 located at the center of theshelf to holdthe spring plate 17 which is of a uniform width and has an outer bend 18so bent with relation to the forward end 19 that a predeterminedpressure is effected on the front face 11' when the b ent end of thespring 18 is pushed into the recesses 14 and thereby provide a yieldableclosure between the end of the spring plate 1'7 and the front 01 themouthpiece at this front face 11'. The depression 16 in the shelf 13serves as a lock shoulder against a yielding tongue portion 18' thatlocks behind the shoulder 18" of the depression 16 when this springplate is forced fully back and into the recesses 14 as clearly shown inFig. 3. The head 12 of the mouthpiece, which may be of any desired form,that is, round, hexagonal or knurled or otherwise arranged for acomfortable finger grip so it may be readily unscrewed from the threadedpart 3 of the tube if desired; but it is understood, however, that themouthpiece may be an integral part of the tube .or fitted in any othermanner to provide a removable separate part. In Fig. 10 is shown aseparate means for rolling up the tube, the usual binder 20 for closingthe tube being retained and a tubular mem-. ber 21 provided with a slot22 of such proportions to freely admit the binder 20 therein and byrolling the tube forward, the contents may be thoroughly andconveniently extruded through the yielding mouthpiece by a one handoperation as indicated in this figure by broken lines. The tubularmember 21, may be formed as in Fig. 11-by bending the member intotubular form and leaving'an open joint 24 with rounded edges,.so thebinder'of the tube may be pressed into the joint 24 from the side, thetube acting as a spring to grip and hold the binder. In Fig. 12 amodifled form of the rolling up member is shown, wherein a slotted bar30 is fixed to a circular grip portion 31, and the binder is slippedmfte the slot 32 and the head rotated to wind up the tube.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that with the self-opening andclosing mouthpiece one hand only is required to squeeze the tube andeject from the mouthpiece the quantity desired and apply it directly tothe article held by the other hand,

providing by this means a much simplified opera-' tion which also savesconsiderable time over the method now employed.

While direct squeezing of the tube to extrude 1. A collapsible tubecomprising a flexible tube member, having at one end a head to receive aspring controlled mouthpiece and a binder to close the other end, saidmouthpiece including a body portion adapted to be removably attached tothe tube, a passage in the body having communication with the interiorof the tube, a channel portion extending forward of the body'and being acontinuation of the passage, and a leaf spring fixed within the body andextending forward in the channel to lie between the side walls thereofand form a cover to close the passage and channel outlet.

2. A discharge head for a collapsible tube, come prising a head with atubular extension that has a projecting bottom wall, an upright wall oneach side of said bottom wall with the extension above said bottom beingleft open, and a plate spring secured to the top of the extension at therear of the open top which spring extends downward between the sidewalls into contact with the-bottom wall at its outer end portion toclose the passage through the extension normally but which will yieldupwardly on extruding pressure in the tube, and which plate spring isexposed on its up r face for removal of the substance that has nextruded.

3. A discha ge head for a collapsible tube, comprising a head with atubular extension that has a projecting bottom wall, an upright wall oneach side of said bottom wall with the extension above said bottombeingfleft open, and a plate spring secured to the top of the extensionat the rear of the open top which spring extends downward between theside, walls into. contact with the bottom wall at its outer end portionto close the passage thro which will yield upwardly on extrudingpressure in the tube, and which plate spring is exposed on its upperface for removal of the substance that has been extruded, said sidewalls having the upper edges inclined downwardly to the outer end to lienormally a short distance above the saidinclined spring plate.

4. A discharge head for a collapsible tube, comprising a head with atubular extension that has a projecting bottom wall, an upright wall oneach side of the bottom wall with the extension above said bottoin beingleft open, and a plate spring secured to the top of the extension at therear of the open top which spring extends downward, between the sidewalls into contact with the bottom wall at its outer end.

portion to close the passage through the extension normally but whichwill yield upwardly on h the extension normally but extruding pressurein the tube, the rear top wall L of the extension being provided with anoverhanging flange on each side to engage and se- -cure said springplate.

5. A discharge head for a collapsible tube,

has a projecting bottom wall, an upright wall on each side of the bottomwall with the extension above said bottom being left open, and a platespring secured to the top of the extension at the rear of the open topwhich spring extends downwards between the side walls into contact with.the bottom wall at its outer end portion to close wall having anopening, and the spring platehaving an ear engaging said opening toretain the plate in position.

6. A container closure comprising a cap having a bore therein for thepassage of the container contents and further having a chamber extendingthereinto from one side thereof and communicating with the bore forreceiving the container contents therefrom, a resilient valve operablein the chamber for controlling the discharge of the container contents,and means on the cap at the inner end of the chamber for rigidlyclamping one end portion of the resilient valve to the cap.

'7. In a collapsible tube, a head on the .end of the tube, a nozzleconnected to the head having a bore, a channel forming an opening at oneside of the bore, said channel having parallel sides and a connectingflat base, the edge of the base and the sides of the channel forming adischarge orifice, a single 'valve closure in the form of a leafspring-secured to the side of the nozzle at the end of the channel, thespring fitting in the channel and engaging said flat base at the end ofthe nozzle, said spring releasing to form an opening on internalpressure of the material in the tube and retracting to form a closure onrelease of such pressure.

8. A paste dispenser for collapsible tubes comprising a nozzle having abore and a channel forming an opening at one side of the bore, thechannel having parallel sides, and a portion of the bore forming a baseof the channel, a valve in the form of a leaf spring secured at one sideof the nozzle at the end of the channel, said spring having an operatingfit. between the sides of the channel, and the end of the springengaging the opposite side of the nozzle adjacent its outer end, thespring being moved to form an opening by an internal pressure ofmaterial in said bore, and retracting to form a closure on release ofsuch pressure.

9. A container consisting of a collapsible tube provided with a neck atits delivery end, a spout extending therefrom in alinement therewith andhaving its back and opposite sides closed and its front open, and asealing spring forming a closure for the open front of the spout andextending longitudinally therefrom between the sides thereof andarranged to abut the back of the spout whereby the spout will be sealed.

DANIEL D. DEVLIN.

REINHAR'I' W. PITTMAN.

